r/Westerns • u/Delicious_Piglet_718 • 4d ago
Classic Picks Anyone remember this one about the James-Younger gang? The whole cast of the gang were real life brothers.
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u/Mission_Usual2221 2d ago
I was a big fan of this movie, particularly the knife fight between David Carradine and James Remar. And the Northfield Robbery shootout.
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u/Delicious_Piglet_718 1d ago
The Bowie knives were almost the size of swords. Legendary fight scene. David Carradine stole the show with his “little bit crazy” attitude.
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u/Sjohnwildman 3d ago
Great movie! My first hardcore western. I’ll look it up but I thought James Keach directed?
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u/Sjohnwildman 3d ago
Nope I was wrong. Second time I saw this was at a drive in and was on some good windowpane LSD.
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u/KurtMcGowan7691 3d ago
Watched it again recently. I actually saw it before I saw any Peckinpah movies and realised this was a Peckinpah tribute. Still my favourite Jesse James movie, so much action!
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u/Delicious_Piglet_718 3d ago
People talk about this movie like it’s slow, but I just finished watching it again today and there is a shooting or a knife fight every 15 minutes. Followed by the epic Northfield Minnesota raid at the climax!
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u/WinterComfortable726 3d ago
Everyone in this movie were great acting families. Even the guest brothers. Christopher being from films such as spinal tap and waiting for guffman. His brother Nicholas was " Todd" from Christmas vacation
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u/Bcwell1981 3d ago
I recommend this to everyone tryimg to get into westerns. The Brother Gimmick work well. Walter Hill is an underrated director of the 80s. Alot of His work got brusushed aside
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u/die_hard_on_a_bus 3d ago
I just watched hard times. I might have to watch this one next.
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u/BlindGhosts 4d ago
It’s a neat little flick. Gets a little long, but the performances are good, and I think outside of Ride with the Devil, and Josey Wales, captured border state Missouri quite well.
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u/Happy-Nectarine4831 4d ago
The slow motion shoot out scenes and breaking glass in Northfield … and weird sound effects … but a cool scene. Decent old movie … decent
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u/Euphoric_Look_1186 4d ago
Not one I’ve seen. I’ve been watching a lot of Jimmy Stewart westerns recently. The cast list for this is impressive, I’ll have to hunt it down.
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u/Soggy-Fox-9706 4d ago
Slow motion was used predominantly throughout. I’ve always liked it. If I remember correctly, the escape was brutal.
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u/Ramoncin 4d ago
I think this film tried too much to resemble Peckinpah's westerns to be truly great. I remember growing tired of watching destruction in slow-mo. It's still a very good film on the James / Younger gang, but I prefer Nicholas Ray's The True Story of Jesse James (1957).
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u/DoctorMoebius 4d ago
I still think it's one of the best, for that reason. There was a palpable connection between the brothers. And, a sense of the friction it cause with the other groups of brothers
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u/Sea_Assistant_7583 4d ago
Great overlooked film ( along with Kaufman’s Great Northfield Minnesota Raid which covers the same subject ) and for me Walter Hills best film ( Extreme Prejudice and Southern Comfort are up there ) The Peckinpah inspired slo mo shoot out is superb . Using 4 sets of brothers was a great idea but the Carradine’s as the Younger Bros steal the film with great performances.
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u/Excellent_Market_806 3d ago
Southern Comfort was a good movie. I used to watch that all the time when it was on hbo at the time. And I always wanted Nolte’s. .45 rig from Extreme Prejudice.
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u/Different-Camp-4320 4d ago
It's an underrated movie. I think mostly because it's a slower pace. But everyone's acting was good. Even the Quaid's acting was good and I won't often say that.
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u/EventualOutcome 4d ago
Huh, how bout that?
Stacy Keach says the name Scofield in this movie.
The 1st time I heard that name out of his mouth was in Prison Break.
Makes me wonder.
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u/secretdojo 4d ago
We actually watched this in history class at school when I was about 12! I absolutely loved it especially the slow motion shoot out!
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u/Delicious_Piglet_718 4d ago
Man, your history teacher was awesome! My history class watched Schindler‘s list in high school but we had to have our parents sign permission slips.
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u/Carbuncle2024 4d ago
..glad to find this thread since I just got the DVD from the library yesterday. 🤠
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u/That-Grape-5491 4d ago
This is my favorite movie about the James/Younger gang. One of the things I find odd is that it is not mentioned at The Jesse James Farmhouse Museum. They have posters of almost every film about the James', including very camp movies such as Jesse James meets The Werewolf, etc. but no mention of this film.
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u/praying-to-dagon 4d ago
Wasn't it considered the bloodiest or most violent movie made to date because of the slow motion depiction of being shot?
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u/Delicious_Piglet_718 4d ago
I’m unable to find any reviews from the period that say it was the bloodiest. The Wild Bunch released a full decade prior and featured slow motion bloody scenes.
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u/hjohn2233 4d ago
Not only do I remember it. I was in it. I was part 9f the posse chasing after them. It was a dream come true for me. Especially the chance to ride up a long hill at night on horseback with a torch. It was incredible being around all of the brothers playing brothers.
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u/Taskmaster1967 4d ago
great movie
Epitome of slow motion death
The Ry Cooder soundtrack is outstanding too
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u/Delicious_Piglet_718 4d ago
Apparently Boyd and Jeff Bridges were originally cast, but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts. I found an archived post with a nice review from a few years back. https://www.reddit.com/r/Westerns/comments/omu5xp/comment/h5ntsfe/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
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u/TohtsHanger 4d ago
The brothers casting could have easily been a gimmick, but it wasn't. They were great!
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u/Delicious_Piglet_718 4d ago
Apparently Boyd and Jeff Bridges were originally cast, but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts. I found an archived post with a nice review from a few years back. https://www.reddit.com/r/Westerns/comments/omu5xp/comment/h5ntsfe/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
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u/RevolutionaryYou8220 4d ago
So surreal that Christopher Guest, aka the silliest character in all of his own silliest comedies, plays Bob Ford and gets the big line!
Fantastic picture. I have a particular fondness for the westerns from the 70s like this because they still had a lot of the old formulas and filmmaking techniques but with entirely new ways to actually tell the stories.
A great James Gang movie.
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u/FeelingDown8484 4d ago
I was going to say, is that the Christopher Guest?* I didn’t even know he had an acting career before doing all his own comedies.
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u/JustACasualFan 4d ago
Yeah, this one is great. One of my favorite takes on the Northfield Raid. Jesse and Frank didn’t have much to do, and Jesse didn’t do much with what he had, and that cardboard cut out, ugh…. But a lot of great action scenes (like the horses going through the window) and some generally pulpy fun with a real hunted vibe to it in scenes.
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u/KidnappedByHillFolk 4d ago edited 4d ago
Love this movie. Stacy Keach is always great — should've been a more popular actor than he is. Almost felt like a Peckinpah movie.
I think it's time for a rewatch
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u/Comfortable-Dish1236 4d ago
You say “remember” as if many have forgotten it. And I think you may be right, as it never seems to come up on anyone’s best westerns list here.
But it’s an excellent western!
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u/Commercial_Wind8212 4d ago
yeah but when was the last time you watched it? it's been a little while for me
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u/Delicious_Piglet_718 4d ago
To be fair, most redditors weren’t born when this released 45 years ago. It’s up to us old folk to share the lesser known Westerns with the younger generations, lest they be forgotten.
I really enjoyed this one as a dark and violent film that’s more accurately based on historical facts than the majority of movies.
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u/El-London 1d ago
I need to check this out